DAYSPA is the magazine of spa management. Spa owners and spa managers turn to DAYSPA for spa management trends, spa management tips and more.
Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/242953
YOUR WELLNESS SPA Mind-Body Health The National Institutes of Health has funded more than $24 million dollars to research TM, and with favorable results. A 2007 study concluded that subjects using TM showed both significant clinical and statistical reductions in blood pressure versus four other therapeutic methods they tested. Another study from 2006 suggested that TM improved the blood pressure and insulin resistance components of metabolic syndrome as well as cardiac autonomic nervous system tone, compared with a control group that received health education only. Currently, meditation is being studied for its potential effect on almost every malady: IBS, chronic pain, allergies and depression. It appears to have a profound impact on the mental state. Indeed, for centuries, people have spoken about the clarity, insight and creativity they've experienced with the aid of meditation. "THE SPACE BETWEEN THOUGHTS" The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (bhimgh.org) at Massachusetts General Meditate on this: One of the oldest and most natural mantras is so hum, from the Sanskrit meaning "I am that." Inhale through the nose while silently focusing on the sound "so" and exhale through the mouth on the sound "hum." Hospital in Boston is devoted to examining the mind-body connection. Here, decades of research have resulted, among other things, in the coining of the phrase "relaxation response"—the opposite of the fight-or-flight response (otherwise known as stress). The Institute has identified two basic steps consistent with most meditative techniques: 1) the repetition of a sound, word, movement or focus; and 2) the passive setting aside of intruding thoughts. Susan Taylor, Ph.D., and founder of the Center for Meditation Science (drsusantaylor .com) in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, teaches meditation to individuals and also trains meditation specialists. Taylor uses five steps to help people "take the wild horse of the mind and rein it in," she explains. "First, you still the body. You don't need to sit like a pretzel on the floor if that's not comfortable, but the head, ReadersÕ Choi e c Aw ard dayspamagazine.com/freeinfo • Use FreeInfo #27 56 DAYSPA | FEBRUARY 2014 neck and trunk need to be aligned. Second, you establish diaphragmatic breathing to calm and relax the nervous system. Third, you move into mindful relaxation, loosening your grip on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual tension. Fourth is breath awareness. And fifth, you focus on the breath." The goal is to reach a non-reactive state so that the mind can rejuvenate. It is sometimes called "the space between thoughts." "I'm trying to achieve an even mind, a state of equanimity," says Marygrace Naughton, yoga and meditation supervisor at Miraval Resort & Spa